1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
I thought that the course would be more technology based, but the focus was more on teaching. After learning that the focus was more on teaching, I envisioned that I would learn about some of the things that teachers did to prepare for class.
I learned a lot about teaching and creating lesson plans and different styles of teaching. I found the reading and assignments to be aligned and logical.I especially learned a lot from the reading, “Learning as a Personal Event: A Brief introduction to Constructivism”.From that reading, I learned that teachers could increase student engagement when they allow their students to do some of the legwork (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999).
Yes, I think I accomplished the outcomes I envisioned for this course and I think the course outcomes aligned with what I envisioned. Especially after completing the major group project, I thought the project was aligned well with the assigned readings and videos.I enjoyed taking this course.
Reference:
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved on November 11, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?
I work as a Help Desk Specialist at Leander ISD.I think the achieved outcomes have helped me have a better understanding for what teachers do.With this new understanding, I can better help teachers when they ask for assistance on technology issues or requests. I know that in a school district environment, it is education first and technology second, which is aligned with the article, “The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the most current research has to say”.
In the Technology department we tend to get too excited about new innovative technology, this course has helped me to understand that technology is only important as long as it adds to the learning experience and that is not just technology for technology’s sake (Schater).I think this course is relevant to the work that I do in my district, as it makes me a better support person for our educators.
Reference:
Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Retrieved on November 23, 2009 from http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf.
3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
I achieved all the course outcomes.I did not have any obstacles that prevented me from achieving the course outcomes.
I think the readings and the assigned video viewings helped me achieve the course outcomes.What really helped me were the examples of lesson plans on the Cast UDL Lesson Builder at http://lessonbuilder.cast.org. The examples are very helpful, had I not had existing examples to look at then I would have had a more difficult time completing the assignment on creating a lesson plan.However even without the example, I still have the rubrics as a tool to help me complete the assignment.
I think the course is designed to help students achieve all the outcomes and that if the student completes the readings and watches the assigned viewings and applies effort towards their work they shouldn’t have any problems achieving all course outcomes.I certainly did not have any problems, it did require hard work and effort on my part, but that is what I expected.
I think the course could be improved if there was an example of a completed group project for students to use as a model.As I stated above it helped me when creating a lesson plan that there example lesson plans on the Cast UDL site, http://lessonbuilder.cast.org.In addition, there was some major confusion the first week because the syllabus was not posted in the courseware, so if the syllabus were posted then that would be an improvement as well.The syllabus could also be improved by stating on the course outline how many points each assignment is worth or what percentage of their grade it is worth. This clarification would help the student out immensely.
Reference:
Cast, Inc (2009). Cast UDL Lesson Builder. Retrieved on December 17, 2009 from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org.
4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I was successful in completing the course assignments.I did not have any problems that prevented me or discouraged me from completing my assignments.
What really helped me with the major group assignment was working with a great team.We all have varying backgrounds and each of us was able to add to our team project.Another component that helped me with completing the group assignments was the use of Web 2.0 tools.We used Google docs, Wikispaces and a Google site to collaborate and create our group project.
I like using Web 2.0 tools to complete assignments, to not only expand my knowledge of what is available in Web tools and gain experience of using these tools.This valuable knowledge adds to my own personal, “framework” which adds new information along to what I already know (Abbott).It also gives me the opportunity to share with others and expand the “networks” of others by passing along the new information I learn about web 2.0 tools (Siemens).
Reference:
Abbott, J. (nd). Building Knowledge: Constructivism in Learning. Youtube.com. Retrieved on November 13, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F00R3pOXzuk
5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
From this course, I learned what education professionals view as the future of k-12 education most of the videos that we watched were from the Edutopia web series, “Big Thinkers” which can be found on, http://www.edutopia.org/search/node/Big%20Thinkers.The future of K-12 Education will be collaborative and project based that allows children to learn by doing instead of just memorization of facts.A student through a project or educational game will take on new roles and get an idea of what it is like to be a scientist or an accountant for example.This engages the student and helps them become the problem solvers of tomorrow.
What I learned is that about myself is that I find the new vision of education engaging.I think that if K-12 education was designed to be more like that of the educational visionaries featured in the “Big Thinkers” video series, then it would be more attractive to adults and students http://www.edutopia.org/search/node/Big%20Thinkers.
What I learned about my leadership skills is that I as a leader like to help keep my team on track while working on group assignments and I like to encourage brainstorming.I try not to speak too much and I encourage others to speak so that we get better group participation.I find that if you foster open communication with those in your group, you get much better results, better ideas and form a bond as a team.
This group project was a good experience and it made me have an even better attitude toward group work.
1. What outcomes had you envisioned for this course? Did you achieve those outcomes? Did the actual course outcomes align with those that you envisioned?
I thought that the course would be more technology based, but the focus was more on teaching. After learning that the focus was more on teaching, I envisioned that I would learn about some of the things that teachers did to prepare for class.
I learned a lot about teaching and creating lesson plans and different styles of teaching. I found the reading and assignments to be aligned and logical. I especially learned a lot from the reading, “Learning as a Personal Event: A Brief introduction to Constructivism”. From that reading, I learned that teachers could increase student engagement when they allow their students to do some of the legwork (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999).
Yes, I think I accomplished the outcomes I envisioned for this course and I think the course outcomes aligned with what I envisioned. Especially after completing the major group project, I thought the project was aligned well with the assigned readings and videos. I enjoyed taking this course.
Reference:
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism. Retrieved on November 11, 2009 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
2. To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?
I work as a Help Desk Specialist at Leander ISD. I think the achieved outcomes have helped me have a better understanding for what teachers do. With this new understanding, I can better help teachers when they ask for assistance on technology issues or requests. I know that in a school district environment, it is education first and technology second, which is aligned with the article, “The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement: What the most current research has to say”.
In the Technology department we tend to get too excited about new innovative technology, this course has helped me to understand that technology is only important as long as it adds to the learning experience and that is not just technology for technology’s sake (Schater). I think this course is relevant to the work that I do in my district, as it makes me a better support person for our educators.
Reference:
Schacter, J. (1999). The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology. Retrieved on November 23, 2009 from http://www.mff.org/pubs/ME161.pdf.
3. What outcomes did you not achieve? What prevented you from achieving them?
I achieved all the course outcomes. I did not have any obstacles that prevented me from achieving the course outcomes.
I think the readings and the assigned video viewings helped me achieve the course outcomes. What really helped me were the examples of lesson plans on the Cast UDL Lesson Builder at http://lessonbuilder.cast.org. The examples are very helpful, had I not had existing examples to look at then I would have had a more difficult time completing the assignment on creating a lesson plan. However even without the example, I still have the rubrics as a tool to help me complete the assignment.
I think the course is designed to help students achieve all the outcomes and that if the student completes the readings and watches the assigned viewings and applies effort towards their work they shouldn’t have any problems achieving all course outcomes. I certainly did not have any problems, it did require hard work and effort on my part, but that is what I expected.
I think the course could be improved if there was an example of a completed group project for students to use as a model. As I stated above it helped me when creating a lesson plan that there example lesson plans on the Cast UDL site, http://lessonbuilder.cast.org. In addition, there was some major confusion the first week because the syllabus was not posted in the courseware, so if the syllabus were posted then that would be an improvement as well. The syllabus could also be improved by stating on the course outline how many points each assignment is worth or what percentage of their grade it is worth. This clarification would help the student out immensely.
Reference:
Cast, Inc (2009). Cast UDL Lesson Builder. Retrieved on December 17, 2009 from http://lessonbuilder.cast.org.
4. Were you successful in completing the course assignments? If not, what prevented or discouraged you?
I was successful in completing the course assignments. I did not have any problems that prevented me or discouraged me from completing my assignments.
What really helped me with the major group assignment was working with a great team. We all have varying backgrounds and each of us was able to add to our team project. Another component that helped me with completing the group assignments was the use of Web 2.0 tools. We used Google docs, Wikispaces and a Google site to collaborate and create our group project.
I like using Web 2.0 tools to complete assignments, to not only expand my knowledge of what is available in Web tools and gain experience of using these tools. This valuable knowledge adds to my own personal, “framework” which adds new information along to what I already know (Abbott). It also gives me the opportunity to share with others and expand the “networks” of others by passing along the new information I learn about web 2.0 tools (Siemens).
Reference:
Abbott, J. (nd). Building Knowledge: Constructivism in Learning. Youtube.com. Retrieved on November 13, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F00R3pOXzuk
Siemens, G. (nd). The Changing Nature of Knowledge. Youtube.com. Retrieved on Novermber 13, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg
5. What did you learn from this course: about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?
From this course, I learned what education professionals view as the future of k-12 education most of the videos that we watched were from the Edutopia web series, “Big Thinkers” which can be found on, http://www.edutopia.org/search/node/Big%20Thinkers. The future of K-12 Education will be collaborative and project based that allows children to learn by doing instead of just memorization of facts. A student through a project or educational game will take on new roles and get an idea of what it is like to be a scientist or an accountant for example. This engages the student and helps them become the problem solvers of tomorrow.
What I learned is that about myself is that I find the new vision of education engaging. I think that if K-12 education was designed to be more like that of the educational visionaries featured in the “Big Thinkers” video series, then it would be more attractive to adults and students http://www.edutopia.org/search/node/Big%20Thinkers.
What I learned about my leadership skills is that I as a leader like to help keep my team on track while working on group assignments and I like to encourage brainstorming. I try not to speak too much and I encourage others to speak so that we get better group participation. I find that if you foster open communication with those in your group, you get much better results, better ideas and form a bond as a team.
This group project was a good experience and it made me have an even better attitude toward group work.
Edutopia.org. (nd). Big Thinkers Videos, Retrieved on December 17, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/search/node/Big%20Thinkers